Dara Shikoh

Dara Shikoh

Subject: History

Context: The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today said that this spirit of mutual respect was exemplified by Indian kings too – from the time of the great Asoka to the crown prince Dara Shikoh.

Concept: 

• Dara Shikoh, also known as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
• Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-BuzurgMartaba and was favoured as a successor by his father and his elder sister, Princess Jahanara Begum.
• He was a champion of interfaith understanding, philosopher, artist, architect, translator, poet and administrator.
• Persian was Dara’s native language, but he also learned Hindi, Arabic and later Sanskrit.
• Dara Shikoh’s magnum opus Majma-ul-Bahrain (which means ‘Confluence of Two Oceans’) has helped in bringing stronger unity among the people of India. The Confluence of the Two Seas (Majma-ul-Bahrain), which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism.
• A genius, a skilled poet, and a Sanskrit scholar, Dara Shikoh studied Sufi and Vedic philosophies extensively.
• He translated the Upanishads and other important works from Sanskrit to Persian. He was convinced that the Upanishads are what the Qur’an calls ‘Al-Kitab Al-Maknoun’ (The Hidden book-Upanishads). His translation is often called Sirr-i-Akbar (“The Greatest Mystery”).
• A great patron of the arts, Dara ordered for the compilation of some refined artwork into an album which is now famous by the name of Dara Shikhoh Album.
• Dara Shikoh subsequently developed a friendship with the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai.
• A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits.
• Dara Shikoh is also credited with the commissioning of several exquisite, still extant, examples of Mughal architecture – among them the tomb of his wife Nadira Begum in Lahore, the Shrine of Mian Mir also in Lahore, the Dara Shikoh Library in Delhi,theAkhun Mullah Shah Mosque in Srinagar in Kashmir and the Pari Mahal garden palace (also in Srinagar in Kashmir).